Take Action Now!

THANKS TO YOU, THE SUN HAS SET on 400%!

Thank you!!

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Are you financially stressed because of payday loan debt?

Do you want to help the Attorney General’s Office crack down on any payday lenders that attempt to evade the law? READ BELOW:

From the Arizona Daily Star (6/27/10)

FINANCIALLY STRESSED?

Payday lenders should offer terms to work out payments of existing loans, said Attorney General Terry Goddard, but it [is] illegal for them to roll the loans over into new ones.

Licensed Consumer Lenders can lend up to $10,000, with interest capped at 36 percent plus some additional fees. The list of licensed consumer lenders is available at: http://www.azdfi.gov/Lists/CL_List.HTML

[To download the complete list of licensees, click here.]

Credit Unions — REAL Solutions: Several Arizona credit unions are also participating in a program called REAL – Relevant, Effective, Asset-building, Loyalty-producing – Solutions, to provide financial services for middle- and low-income households struggling with debt.

Information and a list of participating credit unions is at: www.azcreditunions.org/consumer/ConsumerRealSolutions.aspx

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NON-PROFIT CREDIT COUNSELING:

Take Charge America: Consumers now relying on payday loans can contact Take Charge America at 1-866-750-9630 on Wednesday and Thursday [6/30 and 7/1/2010] for advice on other options.

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“OPERATION SUNSET”

OFFICE OF ATTORNEY GENERAL TERRY GODDARD

866-879-5219

operationsunset@azag.gov

Attorney General Terry Goddard has appointed a task force, called Operation Sunset, to investigate companies that may make illegal payday loans.

Companies can’t offer the loans after June 30 and should take down any signs indicating they do by then, Goddard said.

Consumers who think a company is making payday loans illegally can contact the task force at operationsunset@azag.gov or at 866-879-5219.

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THE FIGHT IN THE LEGISLATURE:

The payday lenders were turned down by the voters in 2008. They failed to convince the House Banking Committee on January 25, 2010. They lost a very high-profile battle in the Senate Appropriations Committee on March 16th and lacked the support to even get a hearing on April 7th in Senate Finance.

Some say they’ll be back next session with a bill to try to reinstate their triple-digit interest rates. (Amazing!)

They must think the voters will forget! They’re talking to YOUR elected representatives, and candidates for office, in hopes you’ll forget … or change your mind!

Call your Senator and Representatives — Tell them:

“Thank you for upholding the will of the voters.”

“Any high-interest scheme payday lenders push next session must be REJECTED.”

1-800-352-8404

Or click here for Direct Phone Lines and Emails

If you are not sure who your representatives are,
simply enter your address here to find out.

Will YOU change your mind on payday lending in one or two years?
Take our quick survey!


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WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

Your voice has gotten us this far.  Take this opportunity to share your opinion with the public. It’s quick and easy to submit a letter…

To submit a Letter to the Editor to the Arizona Republic, click here.

To submit a Letter to the Editor to the Phoenix Business Journal, click here.

To submit a Letter to the Editor to the East Valley Tribune, click here.

To submit a Letter to the Editor to the Arizona Daily Star, click here.

To submit a Letter to the Editor to the Arizona Daily Sun, click here.

To submit a Letter to the Editor to the Prescott Daily Courier, click here.

To submit a Letter to the Editor to the Yuma Sun, click here.

To submit a Letter to the Editor to the Sierra Vista Herald, click here.

To submit a Letter to the Editor to the Casa Grande Dispatch, click here.

To submit a Letter to the Editor to the Payson Roundup, click here.

To submit a Letter to the Editor to the Green Valley News and Sun, click here.

To submit a Letter to the Editor to the Nogales International, click here.

To submit a letter to La Prensa Hispana, click here.

To submit a letter to La Voz, click here.

To find your local paper, click here.

Here are some ideas you can include, but make the letter your own:

  • The voters have spoken. We said “No” to 400% payday loans and we expect our representatives to listen.
  • “Reforms” are meaningless if they still allow triple-digit loans to continue.
  • When car tires blow up on the road or we discover that toys have lead paint, we pull them off the shelves; we don’t blame consumers that might get hurt.  A triple-digit interest loan is a faulty loan product.  It blows up in the consumer’s face almost every time because it is designed to trap the borrower in repeat borrowing.
  • The payday lenders need to play by the same rules as other consumer lenders in Arizona.  No more special deals.  No more triple-digit interest rates.
  • Extending triple-digit payday lending in Arizona would result in thousands of Arizonans being trapped in debt, year in and year out.  We do not want  out-of-state special interests to continue to drain $150 million dollars from Arizona each year in fees stripped from trapped borrowers (those borrowers with 5 or more loans a year).
  • Our representatives at the Legislature need to do as the voters demanded and let the sun set on 400% loans.  The sun sets July 1st of this year.


More Background Info:

  • Arizonans rejected the Payday Lenders’ “Reform” initiative resoundingly in 2008 [See Election Results for exact numbers by district and by county.]
  • When the sun sets on payday lenders’ special deal on July 1, 2010, they will not be forced to close down; they will be forced to cap interest rates at 36% or close down.  The state’s Consumer Loan Act caps interest rates for consumer lenders at 36% APR.
  • Especially in tough economic times, people need good credit options, not predatory products that are nothing more than a debt trap.
  • Credit is not always the best option for meeting financial needs, but bad credit never is.
  • The payday lenders’ special exemption from the Consumer Loan Act has already allowed them to charge 400% to 460% interest rates in Arizona since 2000. The payday loan experiment in Arizona has failed.
  • The large payday loan chains that operate the vast majority of Arizona stores are all based out-of-state.  Consumers’ money would be better spent on in-state goods and services.
  • A functioning free market depends on an even playing field.  Giving one lending industry the right in statute to charge more than all other consumer lenders undercuts the free market.
  • For every employee at a payday loan store, there are 179 Arizonans trapped in spiraling debt.  The cost to the state is huge.
  • The payday loan debt trap leads to: more bankruptcies; more Arizonans relying on social services; fewer Arizonans able to buy necessary goods and services; less sales tax revenue for the state; more state debt…  more problems for all taxpayers.
  • Making payday lenders operate under the Consumer Loan Act does NOT mean eliminating jobs.  It means making the same rules apply to ALL consumer lenders.
  • According to payday lenders’ own SEC filings, the industry experiences 80% employee turnover every year, and nearly 50% turnover within the first six months of employment.  Most people currently employed by a payday lender will not be there in a year, regardless of how much interest the payday lender is allowed to charge.
  • Fifteen states and the District of Columbia have effectively outlawed triple-digit payday loans, with comprehensive interest rate caps at or about 36%. In these states, they have ended the payday loan debt trap and saved their citizens hundreds of millions of dollars every year.
  • In 2007, Congress passed a 36% cap on consumer loans to all Active Duty Members of the Armed Services and their families — effectively banning payday lenders from preying on our men and women in uniform.   The Military Lending Act, while a positive start, does not protect veterans or their families from predatory payday lenders.  A strict 36% cap for all borrowers would.


To see the Prop 200 results for every legislative district in Arizona, click here. Across the state, the voters said “The Sun Must SET on 400%!”


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Also, if you have not done so already, please call these senators — who voted AGAINST the payday loan bill (HB2370) in Senate Appropriations on March 16, 2010 — to thank them for standing with the voters and standing up for Arizona consumers!

  • Sen. David Braswell, District 6 – North Phoenix, Anthem, New River
    (602) 926-5284  dbraswell@azleg.gov
  • Sen. Rebecca Rios, District 23 – Pinal County
    (602) 926-5685  rrios@azleg.gov
  • Sen. Sylvia Allen, District 5 – Apache, Graham, Gila and Navajo Counties
    (602) 926-5219 sallen@azleg.gov

Some of you have asked who the ‘YES’ votes were for the payday lenders’ bill in Appropriations.  They were:

  • Sen. Al Melvin, District 26 – Northern Tucson, Oro Valley, Saddlebrooke
    DISTRICT VOTED 68% AGAINST PAYDAY LOANS
    (602) 926-4326  amelvin@azleg.gov
  • Sen. Jack Harper, District 4 – Surprise, Sun City West, Peoria, Wickenburg
    DISTRICT VOTED 58% AGAINST PAYDAY LOANS
    (602) 926-4178  jharper@azleg.gov
  • Committee Chairman Russell Pearce, District 18 – Mesa
    DISTRICT VOTED 59% AGAINST PAYDAY LOANS
    (602) 926-5760  rpearce@azleg.gov

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Thank you for helping defend what we all fought so hard for in 2008:

A 36% cap for ALL lenders.

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Finally, HELP US SPREAD THE WORD


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